STAAR Surgical has created the Collamer Accommodating Study Team (CAST), a group of seven ophthalmologists who will investigate the accommodative properties of STAAR's Collamer intraocular lens (IOL).

The Collamer material, a proprietary pure collagen copolymer that STAAR claims is similar to the crystalline lens, is also used in the company's Visian ICL. Lenses made using Collamer have had FDA approval since 2000; the distribution of the high water content of the Collamer lens, its biocompatibility and bio-adhesive properties have raised hopes that Collamer will prove a suitable material for accommodative lenses.

Phase I of the CAST study will assess the Collamer Aspheric Single Piece Lens by gathering near and distance visual acuity data; Phase II will evaluate the accommodative properties of the lens after the implementation of changes made to maximize accommodation and compare these with the accommodation data gathered in Phase I. If Phase II shows superior accommodation properties, STAAR plans to make the adjusted lens available next year, and may seek a new labelling claim from the FDA. Phase III will assess a new design of Collamer lens.